PenAir files for bankruptcy protection as CEO promises to refocus on Alaska routes

Following months of problems, Peninsula Airways cancelling service in Portland and Denver as it restructures financially. CEO Danny Seybert pledges to refocus on Bristol Bay, Aleutians routes.

PenAir customers coming into Bristol Bay for the summer, deplaning one of the new Saab 2000s in King Salmon in June.

Credit KDLG

The largest air carrier in southwest Alaska has filed for bankruptcy protection.

“PenAir filed for reorganization under Chapter 11," said CEO Danny Seybert on Monday. "There's a number of reasons for this. I won't go into all the reasons, but we're going to reorganize the company."

Seybert said the filing will not affect scheduled flights in Alaska, where the company serves eight communities: Unalaska, Cold Bay, King Salmon, Sand Point, Dillingham, St. Paul, St. George, and McGrath.

PenAir’s Boston flights won’t be affected either, but the airline is closing operations in Portland and Denver.

Seybert expanded to those markets in an effort to turn the regional carrier into a wider-ranging airline.

"That isn't working out for us," he said. "We have to reorganize and focus on what made us successful in the past, which is the state of Alaska."